Monthly Archives: October 2012

The Building Committee tested this selectman’s dedication today by holding its meeting at 6:30 AM this morning.

The Building Committee is geared towards presenting their proposal for a new DPW garage at the annual town meeting (ATM) next April. The current iteration of the garage is basically the same HNTB plan from before, but with two fewer bays and a smaller generator. The HVAC is being examined as well.

This morning’s pricing estimates from town consultant, Shane Nolan of Daedalus, indicate that a block building and a metal buildings are close to same price (ca. $100,000 difference), but lifespan of the block building is substantially longer.

The committee reviewed plans showing how the current equipment would be housed in proposed garage.

This observer was impressed with the level of understanding of the issues exhibited by the committee members.

This email this afternoon from the superintendent on how to learn of school closures – I just signed up for the alerts –

MEDFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS
ROBERT CMAGUIRE
Superintendent of Schools

October 26,2012
Dear Parents

With the storm currently predicted for next week as well as preparing for the upcoming winter season, I thoughtthis would be a good opportunity to remind everyone of the process we have in place for a school closing or delay.

We call the television stations – Channels 4, 5, 7 and FOX 25. Radio stations receive the information from that call as radio stations are not individually called. We also put information on our school website when school is cancelled or delayed.

Three televisions stations have notified us that they have a free feature for notifying parents of school closings and delays. Parents have an option to sign up for a text message/cell phone call/email (whichever you choose when signing up) from the following TV stations:

Where We Live: Medfield

Lord’s Department Store is the symbolic heart of downtown Medfield. You can go there to buy greeting cards, or Medfield memorabilia, or a one-dollar ham-and-pickle sandwich at the lunch counter in the back. In a big-box age, Lord’s is a throwback — a term that applies to Medfield as a whole.

“It’s really a small town,” said Jim Feeney, a small businessman who owns a lighting store in town. “I know it sounds corny — you’re within 495 and the whole bit — but there’s a strong sense of community here.”

When Feeney heard WGBH was visiting Lord’s, he showed up unannounced to tout his hometown. And he wasn’t the only one.

A country feel

“I just fell in love with this town,” said Norman Gray, who moved here more than 50 years ago and runs a local landscaping business. “It still has a small-town feel to it, a country feel. … I’ve been having my coffee in the morning in this particular location probably for 50 years.”

Around the corner from Lord’s, at the Medfield Historical Society, town historian Richard DeSorgher said the pride on display at Lord’s is reflected in an unusually strong civic culture.

“There’s an incredible amount of people that volunteer,” DeSorgher said. “Whether it’s town government, or through the schools, there are all kinds of events people organize. It’s a very close-knit community of giving to the town, which I just think makes it very, very special. It’s just a great place.”

But it’s also a place that’s wrestling with change. Two big housing developments — including one at the old Medfield State Hospital grounds — could dramatically increase the town’s population and strain its treasured school system.

Boffo for Brown?

Medfield’s anxiety about those changes and its embrace of small-town culture could help Scott Brown here as he seeks re-election to the US Senate. Two years ago, Brown crushed Martha Coakley here, 63 percent to 37 percent.

Some of that margin may have been attributable to the fact that Brown used to represent Medfield in the state Legislature. But there may also be a natural affinity between Medfield’s Mayberry-esque feel and the small-town-everyman persona that Brown has embraced. Most of the people we met at Lord’s certainly seemed to be big Brown fans.

“I voted for Scott Brown when Massachusetts did its thing a couple of years ago,” Gray said. “I think he’s a wonderful family man. And I plan to vote for him again.”

But Warren might do better here than many people expect. Nearly two thirds of Medfield residents are independent voters — and in the past several presidential elections, the town has voted for the Democrat. (Medfield also voted for Deval Patrick during his first run for governor, but backed Charlie Baker by a wide margin four years later.)

Susan Bernstein is Warren’s Medfield town coordinator. She said the Warren campaign was taking the town seriously.

“She has great field operation in place, where we’re going out every weekend to canvas,” Bernstein said. “Phone banks all through the week. We’re doing visibilities — trying to do visibilities — where we’re standing there with her signs a couple of nights a week.”

Bernstein doesn’t expect Warren to beat Brown in Medfield. But she thinks a 50-50 split is a possibility. If that happens, she says, women’s issues will be pivotal.

“Elizabeth stands up for the women,” Bernstein said. “She’ll vote for equal pay; she’ll vote to protect Planned Parenthood; she’ll vote for our right to contraceptives. And [these issues] are playing very well in Medfield.”

Conservative — except when they’re not

For his part, DeSorgher believes that Medfield is more complicated than it seems. Voters prize community and fiscal discipline — but also education and the environment.

“There’s a battle, I think, between those two forces sometimes,” he said. “And that’s why we have so many people here who don’t necessarily follow the party line — but look at the individual.”

That’s a trait that both Brown and Warren hope works in their favor on Election Day.

(Source: MassHousing) — MassHousing announced today that it has closed $50.6 million in financing for the acquisition and preservation of four affordable housing developments in Boston, Beverly, Maynard and Medfield.

Beacon Communities LLC of Boston used the MassHousing financing to help purchase the four affordable apartment communities from their former owner, Equity Residential.

The 351 apartments involved in the transaction will remain affordable for at least 40 years under the terms of the financing and the four developments will receive varying amounts of capital improvements.
“These loans will help keep 351 apartments for working families and seniors affordable for at least the next 40 years,” said MassHousing Executive Director Thomas R. Gleason. “We worked hard with Beacon Communities under a tight deadline to complete these loan closings and make sure this quality housing remained affordable for the long term.”

The properties purchased and preserved by Beacon Communities with the MassHousing loans are:
 Conway Court in Boston: $3.3 million in short-term acquisition financing and long-term construction and permanent financing for 28 units of affordable family housing.
 Jaclen Tower in Beverly: $11.7 million in short-term acquisition financing and long-term construction and permanent financing for 100 units of affordable elderly housing.
 Summer Hill Glen in Maynard: $17.8 million in short-term acquisition financing and long-term construction and permanent financing for 120 units of affordable elderly housing.
 Wilkins Glen in Medfield: $17.7 million in short-term acquisition financing and long-term construction and permanent financing for 103 units of affordable family housing.

“Beacon’s acquisition and renovation of these properties will enable us to continue to provide high-quality affordable housing in these communities,” said Mark Epker, President of Beacon Communities Investments LLC. “MassHousing’s responsiveness and dedication to get these transactions done demonstrates the Agency’s continued commitment to preserving affordable housing in the Commonwealth.”
MassHousing Closes on $50.6 Million in Financing for the Acquisition and Preservation
of Affordable Housing in Boston, Beverly, Maynard and Medfield

About Beacon Communities LLC
Beacon’s team of highly experienced residential real estate professionals develop, own and manage over 70 communities and 12,000 apartments throughout New England, PA, NY, VA and MD. We have a proud 40-plus year history of providing exceptional, award-winning residential communities that serve a diverse cross-section of society and make enduring contributions to the vitality of the cities and towns where they are located. The diversity of our portfolio speaks to our ability to form joint ventures with an array of partners including landowners, community groups, colleges and equity investors, as well as our ability to work cooperatively with public officials and concerned citizens. For more information about Beacon Communities LLC, please visit www.beaconcommunitiesllc.com.

About MassHousing
MassHousing (The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency) is an independent, quasi-public agency created in 1966 and charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts. The Agency raises capital by selling bonds and lends the proceeds to low- and moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners, and to developers who build or preserve affordable and/or mixed-income rental housing. MassHousing does not use taxpayer dollars to sustain its operations, although it administers some publicly funded programs on behalf of the Commonwealth. Since its inception, MassHousing has provided nearly $14 billion for affordable housing. For more information, visit the MassHousing website at www.masshousing.com, follow us on Twitter @MassHousing, subscribe to our blog and Like us on Facebook.

Osler ”Pete” Peterson

Medfield Selectman

I started this blog to share the interesting and useful information that I saw while doing my job as a Medfield selectman. I thought that my fellow Medfield residents would also find that information interesting and useful as well. This blog is my effort to assist in creating a system to push the information out from the Town House to residents. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how it can be done better.

For information on my other job as an attorney (personal injury, civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate), please feel free to contact me at 617-969-1501 or Osler.Peterson@OslerPeterson.com.

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